Yeah, Cloud Atlas had to grow on me, and I didn't like it as much as another of his books (The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (sp?)), but I did enjoy it.

I started reading The Cuckoo's Calling (JK Rowling as Robert Galbraith) today. It's ... not as good as I thought it would be, given how much everyone else seemed to like it. It has potential, but I was hoping for a bit more. Maybe it'll pick up as I go along.

_________________A pie eating contest is a battle with no losers. - amandabear

I am attempting to read Erikson's Gardens of the Moon (Malazon Book of the Fallen 1). It is very difficult to get through but I've heard great things about the series as a whole. There are so many characters and meaningless words right now that it's tough to keep up with what's happening.

It's not near as fun to read as the Hyperbole and a Half book I've started as well.

I just preordered The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness. This is the 3rd book in her All Souls Trilogy. Really looking forward to the July release !

Just finished re-reading book #2 of the series - The Shadow of Night - now that I have learned a little more about the Tudors and English history thanks to the great book recommendations earlier in this thread. What surprised me the most about the re-read is just how incredibly vulnerable women in this era were, especially women of privilege who could become victims of rumors/lies and quickly fall out of favour into abuse, poverty and even death.

Finished The Cuckoo's Calling. It was merely OK, and I kinda hated the ending. It was just too far-fetched and ridiculous. And some stuff made it feel like she was referencing Crime Writing for Dummies - the way certain people were characterised (the beautiful but surprisingly capable secretary, the flamboyantly gay fashion designer), the fact that the victim was a (beautiful) woman of colour (troubled past, mental illness, drug issues). And the main character's name is just forking stupid.

I'm about to start Exile, which is the sequel to Garnethill. I liked the first a lot, so hopefully it'll scrub some of the triteness of this last book out of my brain.

_________________A pie eating contest is a battle with no losers. - amandabear

I *finally* finished The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins, which I read because I wanted to read Woman in White, which the library didn't have. Never got into it at all, and it was awkwardly racist and sexist a bunch of times.

Now I'm starting Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace, which was mentioned a bunch of times in a memoir I read a few weeks ago (Still Point of the Turning World by Emily Rapp. Downer.). I always think I've read all Margaret Atwood's novels, but it seems like there's always another one waiting. I've definitely read all of her short story collections, though.

I stopped reading Kim Leine's "Profeterne i Evighedsfjorden" which was sold me to me as a "book about Greenland and Danish missionaries". Seeing how I've just written my BA thesis about the dichotomy of Greenlandic and Danish national identity I thought it would be good. But it's not. It's self-focused, mostly about whining missionaries, really depressing and disgusting but it feels like it was done as a shock factor (the way he keeps describing the lice in people's hair, the diseases). But I stopped at the rape scene after 300 pages. After the scene it just goes back to other characters. And the scene was so detailled and unnecessary and unrealistic. Even more shock factor.

I guess I'll have to find some actual Greenlandic authors to read and look for Danish translations, because I'm fed up with the Danish (and generally European) view of Greenland as this mysterious natural yet dreadful place.

_________________

lepelaar wrote:

The PPK is a mere cooking seminar for flexitarians who believe in the good of man, but might be a good resource for 3d video expertise and ready-made inhumane slaughterhouse timelines.

Mars, she was probably shocked at someone thinking library staff might have an opinion on anything rather than just being an issuing and discharging automaton. In my experience we very rarely get asked that question, although if someone is getting out a book I've liked I'll say "ooh, this is a great book, I really enjoyed it" and that might lead to discussion. Most people just want the minimum interaction as fast as possible though, which is pretty sad.

_________________"I go to the people with dirty onions and scrawny broccoli." - allularpunk

My elibrary book expired way before I was done but after I was finally getting into it. I signed up again for the wait lost but there are 15 people ahead of me. So I'm reading the next In Death book by JD Robb- Survivor in Death.

_________________If a milkshake is going to change the world then it should be at least be an Oreo one. - daisychain

Im six weeks into Herzog and still only halfway through the book. It's just not galvanizing me to read it. I pick it up with a schoolish mind, meaning, feeling like I'm reading it for some assignment and not enjoyment, as it should be. In terms of the writing itself, I mean, it's Saul Bellow, so that's pretty spectacular and there are some wonderful lines in there and passages but...you know, story wise, it's about a middle aged man going through a mid-life crisis of sorts and it isn't all that relatable to me, and I really just don't give a shiitake. He's not making me want to give a shiitake unless he's writing his crazy letters. And also this kind of story is SOOOOOO well represented in literature already. But the book's also capable of being pretty entertaining. I wish Herzog wrote more letters because I seem to enjoy those the most in the book and to me, they reveal the most about him, not so much his reminiscences (sp?) from the past and whatnot but unfortunately, as the book goes on, he writes fewer and fewer letters. I have to renew it again today. Have three more weeks to finish because then I'm not allowed to renew anymore! Not sure I will, honestly. It's kind of a chore in terms of grinding through the story to get to Herzog's recovery from the incidents of LIFE and being a human which are getting to him.

Oh, I also am reading (in between bouts of Herzog) a book written by Anne Sexton's daughter (Called: "To Mercy Street and Back" or sumpin) and I have two unread Marilyn (Monroe) books I still haven't touched yet that I borrowed from the liberry, the Kevin Something book of short stories I mentioned a while back, still untouched in my pile and a magazine I subscribe to recently sent me a copy of Amber Dawn's "How Poetry Saved My Life: A Hustler's Memoir" which I'm really looking forward to reading. I've been skimming through it and enjoying the skimmage. Can't wait to sit down and give it my full attention.

Finished The Eyes of the Overworld! As a reader, I should hate Cugel, the protagonist - he is utterly amoral and doesn't care for anything or anyone except for his own wellbeing. Still, the book is hilarious (and a lot better than The Dying Earth), so I want him to survive and get into more trouble. Onwards! Luckily I have all four books, so I can continue with Cugel's Saga right away.